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Sky-Tyrant Gunship
}}In the long fight with newly traitorous forces as well as the myriad of xenos empires ready to try and lay humanity low, the roaring sound of the Sky-Tyrant is ready to shred any enemies before it in withering hails of autocannon fire and missile barrage. A work of Kotossan design, the Sky-Tyrant answered the call when the older style of Space Marine gunships, the Fire Raptors, proved too hard to manufacture and maintain with the loss of their designs over the millennia. To replace such a formidable beast the new gunship had to prove both versatile in it's killing capability as well as sturdy enough to weather the harsh combat environments it was expected to operate in. And the Sky-Tyrant proved itself more than capable to live up to those requirements. History With the violent and repetitive wars that swept over much of the Imperium during the 30th -31st millennium, there was an expected loss to be calculated in terms of knowledge as entire worlds and their databanks were taken by either side and wiped, or simply burned wholesale. While the design was shared with many Forge Worlds during the Great Crusade many, such as Akira seceded along with the rest of the traitors, by the end of the Second Solar War the remaining loyalist Forge Worlds that could produce the Fire Raptor dwindled rapidly. This loss of production eventually led to shortages amongst Legion and Order forces and necessitated a replacement. To this end the armour-smiths and tech-claves of the Kotossa Forge World, alongside the Totem Masters of the Iron Bears, with the combination of methodical design and Astartes ingenuity bringing the Sky-Tyrant into being. Once equipped and distributed amongst the Iron Bear forces it quickly proved itself as a capable hunter, able to cut down swathes of infantry and squadrons of tanks with it's array of weaponry. Though it was slower than it's predecessor the Fire Raptor it proved tougher, and more manoeuvrable with it's VTOL engines and emergency thrusters, and while the more varied array of firepower allows for greater tactical flexibility. Soon manufacturing was ramped up, and eventually the Sky-Tyrant found it's way into various loyalist Astartes armouries and thrown into countless battlefields where it would prove it's mettle. The craft would eventually prove itself to be an invaluable asset as the Imperium marched forward through the millennia facing both traitor and xenos alike. Design Like many designs of Astartes creation, the Sky-Tyrant is a blocky aircraft, with a large fuselage to house both the ammunition and equipment necessary to keep it in the sky, along with two large slabs of engines mounted into the base of each wing on rotating joints. These Vertical Take-Off & Landing engines allow it to hover as well as move forward at a decent pace when engaged fully. With weapons pylons mounted on the smaller forward set of wings on either side of the cockpit a multitude of munitions can be mounted, alongside the various other weapons systems such as the autocannon turret and wing-tip heavy weapons mounts. While quite narrow for such a heavy aircraft the wingspan is small, coupled with the tail being able to rotate on a joint upwards and back over on itself onto the top of the craft it can reduce it's size significantly, making it extremely easy for logistical transport. Internally there is space for the 2 pilots in the cockpit and one loader/secondary gunner in the main body of the craft to maintain the weapons stations from within should anything go wrong. Overall this bullfrog of an aircraft may look rather squat and hunched but it packs more than enough punch to send the enemies of man running scared. Armament Built as a gunship the Sky-Tyrant was designed to pack as much firepower as possible into one aerial package to create a versatile and effective hunter that could scour the battlefield for any ground-based targets and eliminate them with ease. To this end the craft has been outfitted with a number of weapon systems to allow it to devastate whole companies of infantry or tank squadrons with ease. Projectile and Laser Weaponry * Twin turret-mounted Sytris Pattern Autocannons * Turret-mounted Heavy Lascannon * 2 Twin-linked Heavy Bolter Turrets on each wing Missiles and Rockets * 2 Mounting Pylons that can house a variety of munitions ** 4x Hellstrike Missiles per pylon ** 5x Hyperios Missiles per pylon ** 1x Multiple Rocket Pod per pylon While a lot of the aircraft's firepower is concentrated in it's nose, it's on the rear of the craft that you will find it's main armament, and also on it's belly. The turret used to mount the pair of Sytris Autocannons is on a rail system, and supported internally by an architecture of struts and feeding chutes that allow it to change it's position on the craft to engage almost any targets. While in the lowered position the turret is on the belly of the craft and has a full 360° arc of fire around it, as well as the ability to raise it's barrels a full 90° upwards, meaning it can shoot at enemies directly below the craft if need be. In this lowered position the autocannons can be brought to bear on ground targets at a significant distance away, coupled with the velocity and power of it's shells confirmed tank kills have been recorded as far out as 10km. When needed, however, the turret can be raised to the rear of the fuselage, allowing for a full 270° arc for fire thanks to the raised tail of the craft. This allows the gunner to shoot directly behind the Sky-Tyrant at pursuing aircraft, as well as track ground targets with longer bursts of fire as they fly overhead. The versatility allowed by this range of motion means that while the Sky-Tyrant is a well-armed gunship, it has the capability to defend against various enemy craft specifically meant to hunt them, such as fighters, and has proven a valuable asset during the years following the Second Solar War. As with all solid-projectile weaponry it is able to use a variety of ammunition as well, in conjunction with the internal feed system of the turret specific rounds can be loaded and unloaded as necessary with the help of the munitions servitor housed in the fuselage. This provides great benefit to the Tyrant's Gunner as he is able to assess, unload and reload appropriate ammunition for any situation necessary. From explosive rounds to the standard armour-piercing rounds and rarer examples, the pair of autocannons are a monster weapons system that you do not want to be on the receiving end of. As a secondary weapons system the heavy lascannon mounted on the chin of the craft acts as a reliable tank-hunting system that is integrated into the controls of the pilot rather than the gunner. While the pilot is obviously busy keeping the craft in the air, thanks to Astartes physiology it is an effective weapons system for taking snap-shots at enemies as the craft is in motion over the battlefield. While the system is mainly controlled by the pilot, it can be handed over to the gunner in the case where a more potent anti-tank weapons system is needed. The other secondary weapons system is the set of pylons on the front wings of the craft. From these pylons many different types of munitions can be mounted that augment the Tyrant's weaponry, mainly in the form of anti-tank missiles such as the Hellstrike. Short-range anti-air missiles like the Hyperios can also be added, in case there is a need for defence against other low-flying aerial targets. The variety of munitions available is so diverse that a keen observer can easily tell what kind of sortie is going on by looking at what a Sky-Tyrant pilot has mounted on his pylons. The final weapons system mounted on the aircraft are a pair of turrets on the underside of each wing, sporting twin-linked heavy bolters for a more close-range burst of firepower. The twin-linked bolters are controlled from the gunner's position like most other weapons systems are, but in the case the gunner needs to focus his attention elsewhere, they can be set into a 'Guard Bear' mode that sees them switch control to their own aggressive cogitator-protocols, attacking almost any target within firing range. While the specifics of what targets count as friend or foes are designated by each individual pilot, and heavily standardised, there have been incidents of friendly fire when allies have not been able to properly identify themselves in time. Control Systems Through the various MIU links and connections between the aircraft and it's pilots the Sky-Tyrant's lumbering form can be made to dance through hails of anti-air fire while cutting down swathes of enemies with precise volleys of fire. This is partially managed through the aircraft's internal systems and auspex readings being monitored and fed to the pilot and gunner's autosenses. Linked to each astarte's autosenses, both weapon systems and the on-board auspex can be slaved to follow their point of view as they turn their heads inside the cockpit. Through the various sensors and main auspex array the pilots are able to acquire a full picture of the battlefield around the craft, and share targeting information with other elements of the strike force. With this shared network of information both the on-board auspex and other auspexes deployed throughout the battlefield can be used as the eyes of the craft when designating targets for on-board missiles. As the main thoroughfare for communication traffic on-board a complex array of vox spines litter the craft, giving it the ability to communicate with ships in low-orbit or to act as mobile nodes passing information from one unit to another. Defensive Systems As with most other astartes aircraft the Sky-Tyrant is a heavily armoured thing, burgeoning with plates of plasteel over a solid adamantium frame, it uses this mixture of armour as it's main method of defence beyond it's manoeuvrability. The hardened plasteel armour of the sky-tyrant has been specifically designed by the Totem Masters of the Iron bears with a specific ratio of metals to hardened plastics and a ceramite outer layer to afford the most protection possible while maintaining a frame light enough for basic aerial manoeuvres. Specifically built around the fuselage and underside of the wings the armour, this configuration gives the most protection to the extensive ammunition stores on board as well as to protect from ground-based anti-air weaponry. While this design does leave the top armour of the craft more vulnerable by comparison, Sky-Tyrant pilots have developed 'roll and twist' manoeuvres to avoid high-angle attacks from other aircraft by quickly flipping itself over and banking away while returning fire with it's belly autocannons. As a secondary layer for defence, the Sky-Tyrant makes use of it's strong communications systems and emitters placed around the craft to detect incoming guided munitions. Sending out pulsing waves of Electro-Magnetic noise to disorientate and blind the incoming missiles. While this sudden burst of EM noise blind sections of the auspex array for very short periods of time, the array swiftly recovers between it's high-refresh time and how well the pilots are trained in re-calibrating the technology on the fly. Engines With a pair of blocky but undeniably powerful Pegasus Mk106 engines, the propulsion and manoeuvring of the Sky-Tyrant is made relatively simple for both vertical take-off, hovering and flight as well as transitioning between those three states. Inset into the base of the wings themselves, and mounted to the fuselage of the craft on large gimbal joints, the engines have a large range of sideways movement as well as the obvious pivot point allowing it to switch between hovering and full flight. This extra arc of movement allows the craft to make sudden and nimble turns and pull off manoeuvres such as a full barrel roll from a hovering position with enough practice. As these are the main source of propulsion the outer layer of the engine is made up of two layers, an inner layer to absorb excess heat-bleed from the Plasma-Phased cores for redistribution throughout the wing. On the outer layer is a thin but tough later of pure ceramite over most of the engine's important components, integrated to allow it to pivot and move in it's housing without impeding it's movement on the wing and gimbal joint that surround it. Less a secondary system of movement and more a series of nozzles across the body of the aircraft, were large vector thrusting nozzles at several key positions that would allow the pilot a last-ditch method of avoiding attack. These large nozzles, while normally used to automatically balance the aircraft can instead be re-routed to one area as a one-time boost of speed in a certain direction. This boost can push the craft anywhere from 5-20ft depending on the circumstances, and was initially never intended to be used in this way, but thank to combat-experience gained by Iron Bear pilots it was swiftly adopted as a staple manoeuvre in their repertoire. Though the process requires a small charge-up time as the plasma propulsion needs to be re-routed and acquire a sufficient store to resume normal function with. It is even said that the best Sky-Tyrant pilots could outwit air superiority pilots and ground defences alike, dancing between them all before striking a devastating blow to an exposed weakness. Though the Sky-Tyrant does not lack for effective control and power thanks to it's powerful main engines, it suffers rather heavily in void operations. Thanks to a focus on in-atmosphere operations, the craft lacks a fully functioning set of thrusters over it's body that would allow it to survive the extended engagements of void battles. It's own thruster system is potent for isolated heavy bursts in a single direction rather than the multiple and simultaneous ones needed for precise control within the void. As such the gunship can make it's way from planet-side to orbiting vessels with relative ease, but are seldom used as strike craft in the void itself. Though recently with several re-fittings of Sky-Tyrants by some Legions they have been made more capable void-craft, but still mainly rely on their twin phased-plasma engines. With this newer style, the engines are turned full-throttle to cross the distance and swiftly attack enemy vessels while covering their comrades in slower craft as they prepare to board on Thunderhawks or Boarding Torpedoes. Technical Specifications Sky-Tyrant Variants Notable Sky-Tyrants Category:Legiones Astartes Category:Imperial Technology Category:Aircraft Category:Gunship Category:Iron Bears